Important Safety issues! on rock hopping

[deepbluesea]

hi guys,
As a spearfisherman, I recently was told of a death of a friend’s father doing rock hopping fishing. this is not the only case, as i have heard of numerous other cases of fisherman getting swept off rocks etc.Is some one who has a better understanding of waves able to explain to me what goes on with the so called freak waves? Do these rock fisher men die mainly due to drowning or being incompetent at swimming and staying afloat or do they actually get swept into the rocks etc.?
Also when is it safe to carry out a rock hop and water entry.. is there a benchmark or standard of swell, tide and wind speed that you guys abide by? Ie when the wind is too strong or the swell is of a certain height, you just do not enter the water? What are the things to look out for.? Also can some one touch on entry and exit positions.. thanks for the advice!

 

[ReefTroll]

This would rank up there with the most open ended questions ever asked on DB.
Freak waves aren't usually anything of a freak, but a larger wave that will routinely be involved every few sets.
And they could drown from an inability to swim well enough, being smashed onto the rocks, or being pinned against a rock shelf etc etc...
As for when is it safe etc? Nobody can answer that besides saying "Use some sense".
If there's a swell breaking obviously avoid it.
It seems as though, given this thread, you've not grown up on a rocky coast, so best to avoid it altogether, it only take a few inches of fast moving water to rip you off your feet.

 

[hteas]

to add a little to Reeftroll:
The main reason that waves come in sets is that there are usually waves coming from more than one direction at a time. The high sets are when the waves from different sources merge together. A rouge wave occurs when high waves from each source merge together.
Because there is some logic to the high waves, a person should do their moving around between sets, having watched the pattern for a while. People have a bad habit of forgetting to watch before getting out where they can get caught by a sneaker. It's a function of either not knowing or of carelessness.
Don't be afraid of rocky coasts, but be very careful if you do try diving there.